02.11.07
some other stuff - Bush, Iraq and Iran
Let us imagine that I am an Iranian sitting in my home in Tehran and I am thinking about the United States invasion of Iraq. What thoughts would pass through my mind and what would be their validity based upon my vantage point.
I would believe that the United States has done a wonderful thing - he has taken out an enemy, Saddam Hussein - a man who waged an eight year war against our country that killed over a half million Iranians.
BUT I also would think that Bush and the United States have invaded a neighboring country without a legal justification. In this world one cannot attack another country legally without the agreement of the United Nations or in self defense after having been attacked. So on one hand I say thank you and on the other hand I denounce the invasion.
Now what do I propose doing - I would support my country in any manner necessary to protect my country from an invasion by the United States - and that would include building nuclear weapons - as a deterent, just as the United States does - what right does the United States have in maintaining an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons and at the same time accuse other nations for attempting to protect themselves. And remember that the United States is the only nation to use nuclear weapons in a war and is a nation that has proposed using them again when necessary.
So where does that leave my country Iran (remember I am putting myself in the position of an Iranian citizen):
- in a defensive position - we the Iranians are not on the offensive - the Bush administration is - with a stated policy of attacking other countries that impact their idea of their interests on a preemtive basis. We Iranians have never said we would attack another country - other than some wild pronouncements by our current leader that Isreal should not exist as a country - and you should all realize that he never thought that the justification for statehood for Isreal was legal and just and therefore should not exsist as a nation - this should not be taken as a pronouncement of an attact of Isreal by Iran.
What do I think should be done now - I would support the United Nations in bringing peace to my region of the world. First by condeming the illegal attack of Iraq by the United States and then by bringing the nations of the region together to attempt to bring a just peace to Iraq and to remove the invading troops from Iraq.
(This post was inspired by a conversation with an Iranian now living in Los Angeles and from the memories of my one year living in Iran many years ago)
